ABOVE: Acting Assistant Chief of the Fairmont Fire Department Colby Whitmore stands with his locker among many others at the fire hall, a good number of which are taken up by volunteer firefighters.

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Fire Department is seeking paid volunteers as part of its annual recruitment drive.

Volunteers must reside within a 10-minute radius of the fire station and respond to 30 percent of the calls that come through. The process begins with a civil service written exam, which Acting Assistant Chief Colby Whitmore said consists of basic educational skills, including math and reading comprehension. After a briefing on what working in the department will be like and requirements, the physical portion begins.

“There’s a wide range of things we make them do,” Whitmore said. “Climbing our ladder truck fully extended, a dummy drag. We do what’s called a blackout room. They’ll be in full gear with a blacked-out face piece for the breathing apparatus, and they’ll be searching for a ‘victim’ in one of the rooms. That’s to test claustrophobia, things like that.”

Offers are then extended, granted they pass a round of oral interviews. The whole process takes around a month to do, so those who are successful can be probationary firefighters in November. Whitmore said the focus then turns to training.

“The priority is obviously taking the classes, getting certified, but we do have you still respond to our drills that happen. Fairmont meets the first, second and third Wednesday of every month for drills and our business meeting, and then obviously the [regular] calls.”

Currently, there are 31 volunteer firefighters on staff, which Whitmore said is where they want to be at but it is important to continuously look for new people.

“We hire every year, just because it takes about two years for you to be completed with all the state-level education and then to be off probationary [period]. With retirements and people moving out of town, whatever it may be, we always like to keep a heavier roster, just so that we’re always at right around that 30.”

One misconception Whitmore said he has run into is that firefighters are running into burning buildings and fighting fires.

“Although that does happen, it’s not as frequent,” he said. “We respond to a lot of medical assists with our ambulance service here in town. A lot of non-emergency assist-type calls. Smoke detectors going off, fire alarms going off, accidents that need clean up on the roadways, things like that, are primarily what we’re getting called to.”

In his experience in fire departments, Whitmore said it takes all kinds to be a successful fire department crew.

“All backgrounds and aspects of life to really mold the department together,” he said. “Having different skill sets in different arenas is really beneficial with the amount and the types of calls that we go on. Being close, being willing to do it, wanting to give back in some way, bringing whatever those skill sets are, and being able to teach those is something that we look for.”

With 10 years at Fairmont under Whitmore’s belt, he said they have cultivated a fantastic group of volunteers.

“We cover a pretty large service district,” he said. “We get a wider range of calls, but great group of people to work with. It’s a nice balance between being able to have a full-time job and being active here as well.”

To apply, fill out an application found at fairmont.org/jobs-2/ and submit to ATTN: Rachel, City of Fairmont, 100 Downtown Plaza, Fairmont, MN 56031. City Hall can be contacted for questions at (507) 238-9461. Even if it is outside of the application window, Whitmore said, anyone on the fire department roster is happy to answer questions.